With the Anthony Bourdain biopic, Tony, about to be released in the UK — we raise a glass a few glasses to the late cook/presenter, with a bar crawl of the drinking dens he visited/endorsed.
Most of the below happen to feature in season one, episode nine of The Layover (2012), though Bourdain also ate his way through plenty of London for A Cook's Tour (2001) and Parts Unknown (2016).
We've done this as a walkable route, but as Bourdain himself quipped of our fair city: "People here like to drink. Sometimes too much, and sometimes, admittedly, not well." Consider half pints/zebra striping/not doing this whole thing in one go.
If you're going it alone, be sure to accompany yourself with a copy of Bourdain's Kitchen Confidential, a perennially sizzling read.
A Harvey's Best Bitter at the Royal Oak, Borough
It's usually beer 'o clock on any given Bourdain TV show — and so we begin our crawl with a drop-in at the Harvey's-run Royal Oak in Borough. It cameos in The Layover, though admittedly only for a few seconds, while Bourdain waxes lyrical about its lack of music/fruit machines. There are no shots of the man himself here, leading us to deduce that the crew snatched some shots while Tony was off elsewhere (perhaps doing shots of another kind). Had he been taken to the Royal Oak for a pint, surely he'd surely have been handed a foaming glass of Harvey's Best Bitter, a no-nonsense brew for a no-nonsense man.
A glass of fizz with oysters at Wright Brothers Borough Market
When it opened in 2002, Wright Bros. was at the vanguard of trendifying Borough Market, and just a couple of years later, the oyster slingers got the nod slurp of approval from Bourdain in The Layover. Though he's not filmed guzzling any of their molluscs in the episode, we know he had a soft spot for the chain. Wright Brothers co-founder Robin Hancock recounts to us that while dishing out oysters for a Fergus Henderson book launch in 2004 "This guy came up behind us and said 'you guys want a hand shucking?' I turned round and there was Anthony Bourdain." Bourdain would probably plump for a pint of porter to go with his bivalves (that was his hungover order when visiting Matt The Thresher in Dublin). But seeing as there's more Black Stuff on the horizon for us, consider a flute of fizz instead. The Wright Bros. Piper-Heidsieck plays nicely with a trio of Carlingfords.
A tankard of black velvet at Sweetings, the City
It's over the river for lunch — and for an aperitif, a pewter tankard of black velvet, a mixture of stout and champagne invented as a quaffable send-off to the late Prince Albert. In The Layover, Bourdain and St John chef Fergus Henderson 'drain a few' while waiting for their table. "These people are, like, running the world," observes Bourdain of the chablis-quaffing captains of industry surrounding him, "and they're getting hammered!" Sweetings being a restaurant, you will need to order some food too. Bourdain had the smoked haddock and poached egg, although when we visited, manager Sue Knowler told us it was something else that was a revelation for Bourdain: "Fergus said to him 'you must have mushy peas!' He was like 'Mushy peas? What the hell is mushy peas?! They're just squished peas!' Then he tasted them and went 'Ohh... now I understand!'" Note: Sweetings is temporarily closed for August 2026.
A Guinness at the Two Chairmen, St James
Were we tasked with flaunting the finest London drinking establishments to Tony Bourdain, a Greene King number would not be on the top of the list, or the middle of it — or indeed anywhere near the damned list at all. However, rules is rules, and in The Layover, the Two Chairmen is where Marco Pierre White decides to rendezvous, and who would argue with Marco Pierre White. We've had fizz. You've had fizz and Guinness. Now it's time for... Guinness! That's Bourdain's order anyway. The two Gareth Southgate lookalikes who appear in this segment warn London newbies off ever ordering a shandy — although to be fair, this was 2012, and the thirst-inducing effects of global warming have since caught up with us. If you want a shandy, have it.
A bottle of London Pride at Bradley's Spanish Bar, Tottenham Court Road
Now, Bradley's Spanish Bar — with its NSM Prestige II jukebox — really is a classic central London establishment, though to do this in true Bourdain style, take your glass outside to the kerb, and clink it against those of strangers. What's in the glass? When Bourdain asks Marco Pierre White what he's having in The Layover, White vaguely suggests 'a pint of ale', but seemingly, Bradley's don't serve pints of ale, so the pair end up with bottled London Pride. Wax lyrical about how London allows you to get drunk on a set of double yellow lines, preferably with a jacket slung over your shoulder. Allow your speech to slur a touch, while acknowledging the night is still young.
A bottle of Peroni at Trisha's, Soho
From Spain to Italy! Well within stumbling distance of Bradley's, Bourdain wisely chooses to flex the expenses account and hail a black cab to Trisha's, the secret-not-secret-at-all dive bar on Greek Street, where the walls are bristling with stills from the Godfather, the chintzy tablecloths look like something out of the, well, Godfather, and membership costs about the same as a couple of pints. OK, a Peroni isn't what we'd necessarily choose, but we're sticking to the script, and that's what Tony and Marco go for in The Layover, as they slouch over the bar and converse with the barkeep. "There is no finer establishment," concludes Bourdain. "An extraordinary place," agrees Marco, before showing just how sloshed he is by failing to recognise a photo of Frank Sinatra and Dean Martin.
An espresso with a Fernet Branca at Bar Italia, Soho
There's no rush in getting to our final stop of the crawl, because Bar Italia is open 22 hours of the day. Another retro Italian joint, this is where Bourdain whiled away many an hour on his London jaunts (it was handily close to his hotel of choice, Hazlitt's). Sober up with a cup of what Bourdain described as "The best cup of coffee or damn close to it", before topping up your blood alcohol level with a Fernet Branca chaser, which Bourdain did when with Fergus Henderson. Then, if you can afford it, sleep this whole episode off at Hazlitt's.
Bonus Soho bars: Gerry's Club, the French House, the Phoenix Artist's Club
All staunchly Soho; all have Bourdain blessings. But maybe save them for another time.
Bonus bonus bars: Princess Victoria, Shepherd's Bush and the Hunter S, Dalston
In a Brexit-seasoned Parts Unknown from 2016 (Season 8, Episode 4) Bourdain visits the Princess Victoria in Shepherd's Bush, pulls up a stool next to Nigella, and between them, they demolish pints of Guinness with scotch eggs, whitebait and chips. We daresay that'd make a rewarding afternoon in itself. Just not the same afternoon as the above bar crawl.
Otherwise, head east to the the taxidermy-bestrewn Hunter S pub in Dalston, where in the same Part Unknown episode, Tony talks politics and class with the Kills frontman Jamie Hince over a pint of *checks notes* ah yes, Guinness. Sláinte!
